Uber's new bet: Developers can now reach out to passengers during trips

Called 'Uber Trip Experience', it allows developers to serve up content to passengers depending on the duration and location of the ride, following their explicit permission.Vikas SN | ETtech | Updated: January 12, 2016, 18:03 IST

Called 'Uber Trip Experience', Uber is billing it as the next major expansion of its platform and the biggest update to its application programming interface (API) since March last year that enabled third party apps to request Uber rides.

This feature will enable app developers to serve up various types of content to passengers depending on the duration and location of the ride, following the user's explicit permission.

Uber is launching this feature in India due to the longer trip lengths it has witnessed in the country over other countries, although it will be available to all developers worldwide.

"From media to gaming to IoT, Uber trip experiences creates new opportunities for developers to build unique Uber integrations that enhance the user experience while they are on an Uber trip" said Dmitry Shevelenko, Head of Business, Uber Developer Platform.

While Uber is yet to sign up partners for this platform since the API went live earlier today, Shevelenko hinted at potential integrations in verticals like entertainment and news, local guides, gaming, social apps and Internet of things.

Considering the nature of the service and the sensitivity of the trip data, it is bound to raise privacy concerns from users, since it may open up for potential data misuse and unsolicited promotions from brands.

Shevelenko however claims that users will have to give explicit permission before each app connects to Uber and access their trip details. One can also turn off this feature on an app-by-app basis at any point.

He added that Uber will also send a monthly email to users indicating the existing app permissions, following which they can revoke permissions for any specific app directly via email.

Similarly, Uber's developer terms will allow developers to access user data only during the ride and they are prohibited from using this data to send unsolicited promotions to users.

"This is not a backdoor to letting third parties aggregate all the trip users take and building ad profiles. It's about using the data to make a better experience for you while you are in an Uber but its not about building ad profiles" Shevelenko said.